Rainbow-friendly alphabet soup: October is GBLT history month

October 4, 2010 at 2:17 pm

Did you know October is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month? According to GLSEN, GLBT History Month began in 1994 when Rodney Wilson, a social studies high school teacher in Missouri, began to organize teachers and community leaders towards creating a month of celebration focused on the contributions of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. October was chosen because it built upon existing events such as Coming Out Day (Oct. 11). For more information, check out their website:http://www.glbthistorymonth.com/glbthistorymonth/2010/.

The Alliance will be sending out a variety of announcements and messages in the coming weeks. Please direct all enquiries to Alice Mitchell
Alliance Secretary, Librarian, Historian/Archivist at mitchella@beloit.edu, or to Mara Haupert, Alliance President at haupertm@beloit.edu or to Greg Buchanan, Alliance Advisor at buchanan@beloit.edu.

Some quick terminology:

Alphabet Soup/Rainbow: Friendly, inclusive terms used to describe
queer individuals and allies.Queer: Although seen by many as an offensive term, there has been a movement by the GLBT community to take back this word. "Queer" is now commonly used as an umbrella term to describe (in a positive light) individuals who identify as part of the Alphabet Soup/Rainbow community.Heterosexual: Straight is a common synonym; refers to people whose
sexual and romantic feelings are mostly for the opposite gender; men
who are attracted to women and women who are attracted to men.Homosexual: Gay is a common synonym; refers to people whose sexual and
romantic feelings are mostly for the same gender; men who are
attracted to men and women who are attracted to women. Lesbian refers
to women who are homosexual.Bisexual: Bi is a common shortening thereof; refers to people whose
sexual and romantic feelings are for both genders.Gay: Can often be used in reference to homosexual men and women, as
well as bisexuals.Transgender: A state where a person transcends the gender binary.Cisgender: A person whose gender identity is the same as his/her assigned
gender based on characteristics of his/her biological sex.

Disclaimer: This is no way is inclusive of all of the different gnderidentities and sexual orientations that exist within the human race. It is merely a brief explanation of some common terms used in the queer community.